Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

First Edition, first printing, with the publisher's 16 page catalogue at the end. 8vo (8.5 x 6 ins); pp ix, 270 + 16. 4 plates, including the tissue-guarded frontispiece, by James McBryde. Original oatmeal cloth with yapp (overlapping) edges, double ruled in red with black title lettering in contrasting fonts to upper board and spine. Spine slightly darkened with a tiny area of at the joint of head of spine with lower board. In addition, there is a small, circular brown mark to upper board below the 'M' of author's initial. Neat inscription to flyleaf - "To you from me, Dec 6 1904". A highly presentable copy. First collection of ghost stories by M.R. James, English author and medieval scholar, who held many high positions within the realm of academia, including provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905-18), of Eton College (1918-36) and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University (1913-15). This collection includes his masterly "Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad", which was adapted for TV by Jonathan Miller in 1968 for the BBC's Omnibus series.